Edvinas Demenius, Chief Executive Officer, CEO/Co-owner, SmartLynx Airlines
A court of competent jurisdiction has since granted Air Peace’s management one of its prayers to withhold an aircraft from among the four that an unscrupulous Latvian lessor suddenly flew out of the country, thus severely disrupting Air Peace’s domestic and regional operations.
According to a media statement by Air Peace, the unprofessional and immoral action of the lessor as at Friday, 28th November 2025, had cost Air Peace losses to the tune of USD38,042,843.84 (Thirty-eight million, forty-two thousand, eight hundred and forty-three dollars and eighty-four cents).
The consortium of aviation firms involved in the botched lease agreements comprised Smartlynx Airlines Malta Limited, SIA Smartlynx Airlines, and Smartlynx Estonia OU.
Air Peace, in the statement, explained thus: “Our current issues with the trio of Smartlynx Airlines Malta Limited, SIA Smartlynx Airlines, and Smartlynx Estonia OU (hereinafter referred to as “Smartlynx”) stem from the operation of damp lease agreements involving four aircraft, during which Smartlynx deliberately defrauded Air Peace of several millions of dollars”.
The statement noted that the financial loss excluded the cost of damages to the airline’s reputation. It explained thus, “This is in addition to the severe disruptions to Air Peace’s scheduled operations during peak season, resulting in monumental reputational and operational damage to the airline.”
The statement from the management of Air Peace further sheds more light, thus: “During the operation of the lease, Smartlynx deliberately defrauded Air Peace and fraudulently obtained several advance payments under the pretext that it would operate the agreed block hours.
Air Peace, however, sadly clarified that “Smartlynx fully knew—months before receiving these payments—that it had no intention of operating the prepaid block hours, yet it continued to demand and received payments from Air Peace under false pretences”.
Recall that the Chief Commercial Officer of Air Peace, Mr Nowel Ngala, had at a media briefing announced that the Latvian operator held more than $5 million of Air Peace funds when it ignominiously exited the country.
Ngala further disclosed that the lessor, SmartLynx, obviously grossly deficient in integrity, had also collected $1 million upfront from Air Peace as a security deposit.
Air Peace’s Chief Commercial Officer lamented that the lessor and other companies from the Baltic region involved in the lease arrangement “knew the rightful owners would withdraw the aircraft because SmartLynx had failed to meet its obligations.”
The perfidy by the lessor led to Air Peace initiating court proceedings against Smartlynx. Ipso facto, on the 12th of November 2025, the court issued an order against Smartlynx.
Air Peace, however, reiterated that the total impact of withdrawing the four duly leased aircraft as at Friday, 28th November 2025, had amounted to USD 38,042,843.84 (Thirty-eight million, forty-two thousand, eight hundred and forty-three dollars and eighty-four cents) due to operational losses, reputational damage, and passenger disruptions.
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